Dining and Pretending
by misspelledideas
Summary: Dean just wants to get out of the bunker. With Cas. Alone. Spoilers for season 8, M/M, Destiel, annoying little brother Sammy.


**A small story I started a while ago. It has food and family and Destiel, so I hope you enjoy. Spoilers for season 8, and a small Harry Potter reference. Kudos if you can figure it out.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything mentioned in this story.**

It's not that Dean doesn't _like_ spending time with Sam. He loves it, really. Kinda has to, with the perks of the job being eight-plus hours at a time in the Impala with him, arguing over music and where to stop for food and what not. Perks of the job, lots of family time, right? Of course, there's always the chance of death, but lately Dean's been considering the positive side of things a lot more. Dean fucking loves his little brother, even if he never says as much. Just sometimes, he wants to spend a little _less _time with Sam.

Same thing with Kevin, really. He loves Kevin too, even though he'd _never _admit it. Maybe he doesn't love Kevin as much as Sammy, but he still likes spending time with the little genius, even if most of what he says goes completely over his head sometimes. But he needs a break from Kevin once in a while too, it's just really hard to get it.

And the bunker is great, really. It's warm and it's comfortable and Dean doesn't remember having his own room before, not since Sammy was born. Better than a motel, too, and Dean gets to cook and stuff. The bunker is a place to call home, and Dean can't really remember being able to call a place home. But sometimes, Dean just wants to leave the bunker, and not to go on a case.

And Dean really, really wants to leave all of those people behind and just go get a burger and a slice of pie or something. Maybe go out for a date or something, who knows.

Actually, he does know.

Dean wants to go out on a date with Cas.

Now, it's not that big a deal. It just seems like one. Dean used to be afraid of losing his 'man card,' but it doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. Maybe Dean's finally moving past the manly ideal that John Winchester pounded into his head.

And maybe Dean doesn't normally go on dates. Maybe he normally just goes to bars and tries to pick up pretty girls, the ones that smile at him and turn their bodies seductively. But he's willing to change for Cas, and he wants to do this right. He can't lose the blue-eyed man, not after everything.

But it's impossible to ask Cas out with everyone around all the time. Like that one time, when he and Cas were in the kitchen, all alone. It was right around the time that everyone was going to bed, and Dean was introducing Cas to the wonders of hot chocolate. It was about a month after the angels had fallen, and Cas was still getting used to sleeping. And okay, maybe mid-July was a bit on the warm side for hot chocolate, but it was worth the sweating because Dean knew that Cas had a massive sweet tooth. And Cas looked so cute with a little whipped cream mustache, and Dean kinda wanted to kiss it off of him. And he was totally going to ask him out right then, except Sammy just _had_ to walk in the kitchen, right when Dean was wiping the little mustache off of Cas with his thumb, and looking into his eyes intently. Sam had just _looked_ at them judgementally, and walked right back out of the kitchen, muttering something about "didn't mean to interrupt," and "I just wanted some water."

Yeah.

Dean still hasn't quite forgiven him for that yet.

"Hello Dean." Castiel says, walking into the large library of the bunker. It was about dusk, and the last rays of sunlight came in through the few windows and illuminated the books. It was chilly for November, and Dean wore a rather thick dark green sweater to keep away the chill. A lone lamp was lit, and Castiel's gaze lingered on it before he spoke again. "How are you?" He asked politely, looking around the room, then moving to sit in the chair across from Dean. Their knees brushed lightly.

"Hey Cas," Dean responded. "Good, you?"

"I am fine." Cas said, grabbing a book from the small table beside him and reading it's back cover. He glanced up into Dean's green eyes, and Dean busied himself with looking down at the comic in his hand, instead of allowing himself to get lost in Castiel's gaze.

The pair sat in the room for a while in relative silence, until the dark got to be too much and the small lamp did not illuminate the room enough for them to read the words enough anymore. Dean looked up, glancing around the room, only to rest his eyes on his tired looking angel, who was still attempting to read diligently. He flicked on another lamp, then spoke.

"Why'd you come in here in the first place?"

Cas' fall from grace had been hard, he knew that. It felt like it had taken forever to find Cas when the angels had fallen, and once back in the bunker, he didn't speak for almost a week. After that, he was as clingy as fuck-all. It took weeks for Dean to get him to be independent again, to make him realize that he didn't need Dean or Sam or even Kevin to go back to being the badass that they all knew him as. Now, Cas was oftentimes holed up in his room, reading books or tracking cases as much as he could, or in the kitchen, cooking enough food to feed an army- or his lost brothers and sisters. It was as if he thought he needed to make up for his angel mojo being zapped.

"I was in the kitchen, cooking," the fallen angel started, "when Sam came in. He told me I did too much in the kitchen, and to go sit with you until dinner was ready." Cas shrugged, and pulled his arms closer to his body. Dean watched his muscles flex.

"But I see," Cas continued, "That I have lost track of time, and they seem to have eaten dinner without us. I am sorry, Dean."

Dean glanced to the open door, only to see Sam sitting at the kitchen table, grinning in their general direction. He winked, then nodded his head towards the door as if to say: Take him out, you imbecile. I know you want to.

Dean swore. Cas looked up.

"I'm very sorry Dean. I can- I can make you something to eat now?" Cas said. A brief look of insecurity crossed his face, and Dean wanted nothing more than to make it go away.

"No, Cas. Just- go get ready in your room. We can run to get something from the diner down the street." Dean said quickly, aware that his little brother was listening to his every word.

"Are you sure?" Castiel replied. "I can make-"

"No, no." Dean said. "Just- just go get changed in your room real quick, ok?"

"Okay." Cas said, and headed back to his room. Dean thanked God that he was already dressed nice enough, and headed out towards the kitchen.

"Sammy." He said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I should kill you right now."

"You love me too much." Sam said smugly. "Besides, I helped set you up on a date with an angel you're in love with. That should at least earn me brownie points."

Dean glowered at Sam.

"And," Sam continued, obviously enjoying teasing his brother, "I didn't_ make_ you offer to take Cas out. You could have just skipped dinner or made something at home."

"But what-" Dean started.

"Relax." Sam cut in. "You've both been working your asses off. Take a break."

"Fine, goddammit, and I'll have a fucking good time while I'm at it." Dean said heatedly, and the brothers sat in silence. Dean watched the clock on the wall tick in silence, until finally the sound of footsteps alerted him of Castiel's presence.

"Sam." Cas spoke. "Did you lay out clothes on my bed for me to wear? These are quite tight."

"I did." Sam winked at a slack jawed Dean.

"I am capable of dressing myself Sam." Cas spoke, looking down at himself. On his body lay a rather tight sweater, slightly unbuttoned to reveal a dark colored T-shirt. Dean's eyes traveled hungrily down his body, inspecting his dark jeans and the way that they hugged around his thighs.

"I know, I just found those and thought that you might like them." Sam said. "Now you guys leave, and relax!" Sam hauled Dean up by his arm and pushed him towards the entry way. Dean glared one last time at his brother, before turning back to Castiel.

"You look- you look nice." Dean said, stumbling over his own word as he held the door open for Cas.

"Thank you." Cas replied smoothly, walking with Dean to the Impala. "Where are we eating Dean?" He asked, getting in the passenger side of the door. "The woman at the grocery store said that Cherry's Cafe was good."

"Umm, yeah, sure, where ever you want to eat." replied Dean. He sat in his seat, staring intensely at the dashboard, hands gripping tight on the steering wheel, forgetting momentarily that there was somebody else in the car, buckling up beside him. Dean wasn't sure why he was so nervous, he knew that Cas didn't see it as a date. But Dean was worried anyway, worried about fucking everything up like normal. And he-

"Dean." Cas said calmly. "I know that you are sometimes, as Sam stated earlier, not the sharpest knife in the toolbox, but generally you need to start the car to get it to go." Dean glared at him playfully, his hand with a slight shake as he jammed his key into the ignition.

"Sammy said that huh? Did he tell you it was actually the sharpest knife in the drawer?" Dean said, pulling out of the driveway and onto the dark road. The moon shimmered down on the boys, and the headlights illuminated the road enough for them to faintly see the trees lining the road.

"Ah, yes. I was not aware that that was the correct euphemism." Cas corrected himself, sitting back calmly. "You should turn there." He pointed towards an upcoming road, finger extended.

"What else did Sam say about me when you guys were having your little chat?" Dean inquired, turning the Impala into the correct road. He spared a glance over to Castiel's face, only to find that the angel was already looking at him.

"Something about you being in Narnia. Where's Narnia? I have not heard of it yet."

"Nowhere Cas." Dean said, pulling into Cherry's Cafe. "Just ignore Sammy, he's full of shit."

"Okay."

Dean concentrated on parking for a moment, pulling into one of the many empty spaces. A lone streetlight lit up the car and sidewalk, just enough, when Dean stepped out of the car, for him to be able to make out the brilliant blue of the other man's eyes. He got lost in them for a moment, but quickly glanced away. Quickly, he trudged into the diner, leaving Cas in his wake.

"Seat for two." He requested of the round lady up front, Cas walking in behind him. She glanced up from her phone disinterestedly, then caught sight of Cas, who had quickly walked up next to him.

"Of course, sweetie." She said, leering at Castiel, her eyes glancing appreciatively at his thighs as Dean had been doing not half an hour ago. Dean set his jaw as Cas squirmed uncomfortably next to him. Dean knew that he probably didn't know what was going on, and was confused as to why the woman was still looking at him.

"Where would you like us to sit." Dean spat out, moving even closer to Cas. The woman payed him no mind, staring at Cas as she said "There's a few tables over there." She pointed to the most open area of the room. "I can take you if you want. Unless you want to order to-go, then we can _get out of here_ quicker." Her words were thick with innuendo.

This was the final straw for Dean, who clamped his arm around Cas' waist and leans his head on Castiels broad shoulders. His heart swelled when Cas' head dipped down to lean on his own.

"We can seat ourselves, thanks." He stated cooly to the put-out looking woman, walking with Cas to a small table with only two chairs. He pulled out Cas' chair, glaring at the woman, before sitting across from him. He glowered slightly, causing one of the other groups of people, who didn't seem to notice what was happening, to lean away in discomfort.

"Dean, what was that?" Castiel questioned, looking at Dean seriously.

"She was hitting on you, Cas." Dean explained, shifting in his seat.

"Dean, she was not causing me any harm." Castiel said seriously. Dean rolled his eyes, smirking slightly at his angels ignorance.

"No, Cas, hitting on you means she was attracted to you and wanted to- you know- with you. That's why she was calling you sweetie and eyeing you like she wanted to eat you."

"She would not have eaten me. Cannibalism is not generally accepted in human society."

"Cas. Euphemism." Dean explained, browsing his menu.

"Oh. Why did you grab me like that? I thought you wanted your personal space, but those were signs of gestures typically displayed by human mates." Cas asked, still confused.

"Cas." Dean said, looking up. "Sometimes, when somebody is being hit on and they don't want to be, they'll pretend to be dating a friend so the other person stops."

"Oh. So you were pretending we were on a date." It was not a question, and Dean nodded stupidly. They sat in silence, browsing their menus, until another waitress came over.

"Hi!" She said brightly. "Sorry about Carla, she's- well, yeah. My name's Shirley, and I'll be your server tonight. What can I get for you to drink?" She directed her question at Castiel.

"I'll just have a water, thank you." He said politely.

"And you?"

"I'll take a Coke." Dean said, glancing up at her. She was wearing a rather distasteful shade of red lipstick, nothing like the soft pink lips that he loved. And her eyes were brown, nothing like the beautiful blue he preferred. And her-

"I'll be right back with those!" She chirped, flouncing away.

Dean and Cas sat in silence for a few moments, Dean carefully avoiding Cas' eyes.

"Cas, do you-" Dean finally started, but as promised, Shirley quickly came back with their drinks.

"Here's a water for you aaand a Coke for you, sir." She said, setting the drinks on the dark green coasters while winking at Dean. Cas' eyes watched her curiously.

"And what would you like to eat, hun?" She said, looking at Cas.

"A caesar salad, please." He said. Dean snorted across from him. It seemed that Sam's girly eating habits were rubbing off on Cas.

"Sure thing, dear." She said, writing it down. Shirley looked at Dean. "And you, sweetie?" She asked him.

"I'll take a-" He started.

"Dibs." Cas interrupted him, laying his hand over Deans and staring at Shirley possessively. "We're on a date." He informed a couple a few tables over.

"Cas-"

"We can get our own food." He spat out, and grabbed Dean by the forearm, pulling him roughly up. Dean complied immediately, curling into Cas' body as he threw a few bills on the table and pulled him over to the door.

"Have a nice night." Dean said cooly to the shocked looking waitress as he was pulled out the door. A fuming Castiel dragged him to the car.

"Woah Cas, what was that?" He said, getting in the car and looking over at Cas, buckling his belt over his cream sweatshirt. His beautiful eyes flickered.

"I was told that was the appropriate reaction when one was hitting on a friend." Cas said gruffly, leaning back in his seat. He looked over at Dean, the shadows from the parking lot shading his face. "Was I incorrect?"

"No, no, but Cas, she wasn't hitting on me. She was being polite."

"But that's how one behaved when they were attracte-" Cas started.

"Cas. You need to listen to how people talk. Their friend voice is different! That lady was using her friend voice, like when I talk to Kevin." Dean explains, inexplicable fondness in his chest at the confusion blossoming in his angels voice.

"When you talk to Sam, it is different than how you talk to Kevin." Cas stated as Dean started the car, turning the key and making sure the radio was off before pulling out of the driveway.

"Well yeah, Kevin's a friend, and Sam's my brother. It's different." Dean explained, driving along the dimly lit road. The Impala's headlights cut through the darkness, but if Dean glanced to the side, he could only see part of Castiel's face illuminated.

"But I'm different too." Cas said, again without question. "You talk to me differently than you do Sam or Kevin."

"I do." Dean agreed, palms slightly sweaty against the steering wheel as he turned the car again, this time on the road to the bunker. Castiel sat in silence, contemplating.

The road home was not long. The trees cast long shadows on the pavement as Dean and Cas pulled into the driveway, and crickets chirped quietly as Dean turned off the car. The pair sat in silence, before Cas, suddenly, asked Dean a question.

"Dean, do you -you love me?" Castiel asked, and Dean looked at his fallen angel, shocked. Freaking nerd angel, has to be too smart yet completely freaking oblivious at the same time.

"Of course I do." Dean said honestly. "What's not to love?"

"The fact that I fell." Cas commented earnestly, looking away from Dean.

"Cas..." Dean said earnestly. "I just..." Cas looked up then, into Dean's eyes, and Dean's breath caught in his throat for a moment at Cas' amazing eyes.

"Dean." Castiel said quietly, leaning in closer as Dean also leaned in. "I think..." His eyes fluttered close as Deans lips met his.

It wasn't exactly fireworks, Dean contemplated, nor was it perfect. But the kiss was great because Dean's fists got to ball up in Cas' sweatshirt and Cas grabbed onto his hair and they swayed in the Impala and got even closer, and somehow Dean practically ended up sitting in Castiel's lap, surrounded by his arms, and-

"Oh my God." Sam swore, peering through the window. "I haven't seen that many boners since the last time I was in a strip club, and Cas, let me tell you, you have nothing to be wor-"

"Sam go the fuck away!" Dean grunted, breaking his lips away from Cas and glaring at his brother angrily.

"No, I'm calling Bobby!" Sam said gleefully.

"Don't you-" Dean started, but Sam already had skipped inside the bunker. "Son of a bitch." He muttered.

"Don't get mad at him." Cas said gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for months now. And this is a good thing, correct?" He asked nervously.

"Right." Dean said, sneaking another kiss. And another. And another. And Dean's stomach swooped pleasantly when Cas muttered against his lips "I love you too."

And then Dean smiled, and everything was alright.

**Well, there you go. Hope you enjoyed.**


End file.
